Canning Green Beans in a Pressure Canner
It is definitely green bean season. All summer I look forward to fresh green beans. Steamed beans, topped with butter and salt sounds like absolute perfection to me. This also means it’s time to get the canner out. As much as I love having our own beans in the middle of winter, I’m not really a fan of canning. However, this method of raw packing the beans is easy, and allows some of the steps to be done prior, in order to save time.
What is the Difference Between Raw Packing and Hot Packing Method?
There are two different methods to canning green beans. Hot packing is when the beans are boiled before being added to the jars. Raw packing is when the beans are added raw, without any boiling. To save on time, I use the raw packing method. Something to keep in mind, when raw packing, the beans are still getting cooked during the canning process, so you will never have crunchy beans.
Do You Have to Pressure Can Green Beans
Green beans have to be preserved by the pressure canner because beans are considered a low-acid food. A low-acid food is a food having a pH of more than 4.6. If you were to water bath beans instead, this increases the chances of a food borne illness, botulism, to happen.
What Type of Pressure Canner Should be Used
I currently use a 16 quart dial gauge pressure canner, which I love because it’s really easy to read the current pressure, and can easily be adjusted by making small changes to the temperature. This canner holds up to 7 quart sized jars, so I am able to get a lot of food processed at once. I also use the canner when I need to water bath items, so it is multi purpose.
Steps to Getting Green Beans Prepped to Can
The first step in preparation to canning green beans, is to pick your beans! Once the beans start growing, the plants will need to be checked daily. I make sure the beans are picked before getting too tough. I great way to check if yhey are ready is breaking yhrm in half. If the beans have a nice “snapping” sound when broken, they are ready!
After picking your beans, rinse to remove any extra dirt that doesn’t belong in your jar.
After washing your beans, cut them in pieces, usually leaving each piece around 1.5 inches. I don’t like to leave them too long, otherwise, the beans don’t fit in the jar as well.
Once all the beans are washed and cut, I prepare my jars. I give each jar a little rinse under water to make sure it’s cleaned, but I do not sterilize the jars, since they are processed in the pressure canner. Fill each jar with beans, leaving about a quarter inch of space on top. I add 1 tsp of canning salt to each quart jar, however, the salt is completely optional. From there, I fill each jar with boiling water. To ensure the air bubbles are removed, take a butter knife, and run it around the inside of the jar. This helps compact the beans more, and gets the extra bubbles removed.
Before placing the lid and ring on, I wipe the rim of the jar down with a paper towel, making sure there isn’t anything that could not allow a seal to happen.
How to Use a Pressure Canner
Before I used my pressure canner for the first time, I read the directions. It’s really important to make sure all the pieces are your canner are working properly, it seals correctly, and that there aren’t going to be issued when canning. If you are new to pressure canning, I would highly recommend reading the manual to your particular canner, as it might be different from another brand.
My particular canner calls for 12 cups of waters, so while I am prepping my beans, I add the water along with a few tablespoons for vinegar to the pot, and let that come to a boil. Be sure to add vinegar to your water so your jars are nice and shiny after being canned. Otherwise, the jars will have a hard water deposit formed on them.
Once the jars are packed, I add them to the pressure canner, put the lid on, and wait for a steady steam to come out of the steam vent. This will steam for 10 minutes, until placing the weighted gauge on it. The purpose of venting the pressure canner for ten minutes is to ensure any trapped air is released. For quart, regular mouth sized jars, beans will be pressure cooked for 25 minutes at 11 pounds. However, this is something that could vary per pressure canner, and would need to be referenced in the manual.
Once the process is complete, allow the dial gauge to reach zero, and then slowly remove the weighted gauge. Be careful opening that cover, as there is always steam. Take the jars out, and allow to cool, listening for the ringing, high-pitched sound once they are properly sealed.
